3 ms·

> Manufacturing labor is much more expensive than it used to be, so it’s no longer economically feasible to mass produce ornate buildings or goods. That's the

> Manufacturing labor is much more expensive than it used to be, so it’s no longer economically feasible to mass produce ornate buildings or goods. That's the excuse architects give, yes. But look at the extravagant, price-is-not-a-factor designs that win architecture awards [1] - the same soulless lack-of-detail they claim is purely a cost cutting measure, even when other elements of the design are very expensive. It's profoundly obvious they are at best uninterested, and at worst actively hostile, to classical beauty [2,3]. [1] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=imag... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Wilhelm_Memorial_Church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Wilhelm_Memorial_Church [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Forum#/media/File:Humboldt_Forum_10493.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Forum#/media/File:Hum...

MontyCarloHall 4y ago
High-end aesthetics have evolved to reflect what’s financially feasible to mass produce, since design taste is driven in large part by common (i.e. not rare) design elements. I’d also argue that many of those award winners are still incredibly ornate [0,1,2], just not in a classical sense. That said, there are some critically acclaimed postmodern neoclassical buildings (e.g. Les Espaces d’Abraxas [3]), although these are indeed rare. [0] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.designboom.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F04%2FA-design-award-competition-2013-2014-winners-designboom-01.jpg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=imag... [1] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fwww.architecturelist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F02%2Fwa-winners.jpg%3Ffit%3D1960%252C1080%26ssl%3D1 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=imag... [2] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.designboom.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F04%2Fa-design-award-competition-winners-2016-designboom-16.jpg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=imag... [3] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=les+espaces+d%27abraxas&t=h_&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=les+espaces+d%27abraxas&t=h_&ia=im...
- car_analogy 4y ago
  > design taste is driven in large part by common (i.e. not rare) design elements This is empirically false. 'Taste' has not been driven to prefer modern designs (unless one looks solely at high-class architects), the two have simply diverged: A study of courthouse architecture determined that “[our] findings agree with consistent findings that architects misjudge public likely public impressions of a design, and that most non-architects dislike “modern” design and have done so for almost a century.” Yet 92% of new federal government buildings are modern. - https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/whither-tartaria https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/whither-tartaria There is zero evidence that architects are trying to create classicaly beautiful, pleasing, beloved by the public buildings, and are simply thwarted from fully succeeding by the cost of labor. Which was somehow not an impediment when our societies were far poorer and less productive. In fact, the evidence points in the exact opposite direction.

MontyCarloHall 4y ago

High-end aesthetics have evolved to reflect what’s financially feasible to mass produce, since design taste is driven in large part by common (i.e. not rare) design elements. I’d also argue that many of those award winners are still incredibly ornate [0,1,2], just not in a classical sense. That said, there are some critically acclaimed postmodern neoclassical buildings (e.g. Les Espaces d’Abraxas [3]), although these are indeed rare. [0] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.designboom.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F04%2FA-design-award-competition-2013-2014-winners-designboom-01.jpg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=imag... [1] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fwww.architecturelist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F02%2Fwa-winners.jpg%3Ffit%3D1960%252C1080%26ssl%3D1 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=imag... [2] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.designboom.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F04%2Fa-design-award-competition-winners-2016-designboom-16.jpg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=architecture+award+winner&iax=imag... [3] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=les+espaces+d%27abraxas&t=h_&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=les+espaces+d%27abraxas&t=h_&ia=im...

car_analogy 4y ago
> design taste is driven in large part by common (i.e. not rare) design elements This is empirically false. 'Taste' has not been driven to prefer modern designs (unless one looks solely at high-class architects), the two have simply diverged: A study of courthouse architecture determined that “[our] findings agree with consistent findings that architects misjudge public likely public impressions of a design, and that most non-architects dislike “modern” design and have done so for almost a century.” Yet 92% of new federal government buildings are modern. - https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/whither-tartaria https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/whither-tartaria There is zero evidence that architects are trying to create classicaly beautiful, pleasing, beloved by the public buildings, and are simply thwarted from fully succeeding by the cost of labor. Which was somehow not an impediment when our societies were far poorer and less productive. In fact, the evidence points in the exact opposite direction.